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For the Sabres, both Jack Eichel and Ryan O’Reilly took part in their morning skate, but only O’Reilly will return tonight. He’ll center Buffalo’s top line.
The Red Wings decided on an optional skate this morning. We expect the lines and defense pairings to remain in tact from yesterday’s practice. Jimmy Howard is your stater in net.
Detroit Line Combinations
Forwards
| Justin Abdelkader | Henrik Zetterberg | Anthony Mantha |
| Tomas Tatar | Frans Nielsen | Luke Glendening |
| Gus Nyquist | Dylan Larkin | Thomas Vanek |
| Riley Sheahan | Steve Ott | Tyler Bertuzzi |
Defensemen
| Danny DeKeyser | Mike Green |
| Niklas Kronwall | Brendan Smith |
| Jonathan Ericsson | Ryan Sproul |
Goaltenders
| Jimmy Howard (starting) |
| Petr Mrazek |
Power Play units:
- Nyquist-Zetterberg-Vanek (net front), Kronwall-Sproul
- Tatar-Nielsen-Larkin, Mantha (net front), Green
Buffalo Line Combinations
Forwards
| Matt Moulson | Ryan O’Reilly | Kyle Okposo |
| Evander Kane | Sam Reinhart | Zemgus Girgensons |
| Marcus Foligno | Johan Larsson | Brian Gionta |
| Derek Grant | Cal O’Reilly | Will Carrier |
Defensemen
| Josh Gorges | Rasmus Ristolainen |
| Jake McCabe | Cody Franson |
| Taylor Fedun | Justin Falk |
Goaltenders
| Robin Lehner (starting) |
| Anders Nilsson |
Keys to the Game:
1. Score Goals
The Red Wings have lost four straight games. In two of those four losses they’ve scored a total of ZERO goals. Last I checked, you can’t win a hockey game when you score zero goals. I mean maybe technically if it’s a 0-0 game and you win the shootout… you’ve won a game without scoring an official goal, but someone has to put the puck in the net to win the shootout… so yeah… where was I? Who knows. Just score some stupid goal and score a lot of them.
2. Don’t Allow Goals
This one is pretty self explanatory. The Red Wings need to prevent the Sabres from shooting the puck across the goal line and into the net behind Jimmy Howard. This is a crucial part of the game.
Let’s Go Red Wings.
